The Chaos of Silence

Ride in public transports deliver many a fascinating experiences, here's one of them. One particular day, the metro rail PA system within the coach wasn't working. As a result stations came in and went by, without the mandatory mentions. The people, being regular commuters, knew the station routes very well, in addition to ample signages to glare at, as the rakes rolled in respective stations, for identification. But guess what, every station there were quite a few commuters who just did not manage to get down at their respective stations. They realized their folly, only when the coach doors slid shut or when the next station came in. They cursed at the silent PA system for their misfortune. The whole journey was amusing looking at the chaos. But it has left me pondering, are our minds too much conditioned to routine.

No wonder, my mind is conditioned to the fact, that my day will start off by haggling with a auto driver and when on blessed days I finally get one auto who just flicks his meter on, no questions asked, for a moment I do not know how to react but I regain myself and manage to continue the fight asking him, 'aapka meter sahi hain na? garbar to nahin, bharosa nahi hota etc.

Further on, in an office environment, my mind (I guess the entire ad fraternity's) is conditioned to the fact that during pitches, work has to end up last minute. No last minute drama and no late nights means 'not a pitch winning' effort. But when I actually finished a pitch work a well one day in advance, i sweated and fretted that perhaps i missed portions of the brief, or their isn't much 'juice' in the deck, what if I add a few more data and the list went on. As a result my confidence level for that particular pitch went abysmally low.

Take my support for KKR. This was the most non-violent way to get back to my colleagues and friends in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad who believed (and still does),Kolkata as a city is a decayed one. For three years the glory eluded me and decay was settling into me as a supporter. But when the team finally showed some mettle this season, the feeling went from bad to worse, what if the KKR matches are fixed, so that SRK does not quit IPL. What's the guarantee, teams that are losing to KKR are actually being paid by SRK. All ill feelings laid to rest when KKR eventually got knocked out of the tournament. All's well with IPL!

Similarly, when we hear about politicians indulging in corruption, see a crowded bus or metro during office hour, stand in a long queue to get actual delivery of the 'online' movie ticket from the counter, shake our heads in disbelief when we get our salary cheques month on month, watch 'vulgar' reality shows in much detail and interest and end up discussing the level of vulgarity in TV animatedly...in all these perhaps we are very comfortable and glad it is part of our lives.

The familiarity of all these sights and sounds might make things very predictable in mind and we end up reacting in the exact manner the way we are meant to react. But at the same time makes us vulnerable. Like the metro commuters that day. Do we have the power of adaptability when things are not routine or the character to brace ourselves for occasions when things aren't exactly the same. Perhaps that's what set individuals apart.

I am not sure about others, but I have got some work to do on myself, missed not one, but two stations on that ill fated day. What the heck, bloody silence!